Vendors at informal park market have plenty of fans

Thursday

Aug 22, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 22, 2013 at 11:24 AM

STOCKTON - Mee "Aileen" Xiong uses tongs to flip her one-of-a-kind, sweet and tangy sausages. She barks in Hmong to her daily helper. And, like any smart small businesswoman, she greets her customers by name.

Kevin Parrish

STOCKTON - Mee "Aileen" Xiong uses tongs to flip her one-of-a-kind, sweet and tangy sausages. She barks in Hmong to her daily helper. And, like any smart small businesswoman, she greets her customers by name.

With a twinkle and a smile, she sort-of reveals the secret sausage fixings: Onions, sugar, lemongrass, lemon and lime, pork and "lots of other stuff."

She's been grilling that sausage and preparing som tam (Thai papaya salad) for five years in one of the park's shady spots. The prices are low ($1 for a sausage; $2 to $3 for the individually made papaya salad; $1 for three egg rolls; $1 for sticky rice), and the waiting lines can be long.

Ingredients in the salad vary widely, based on cultural and regional differences.

The overall, cash-only marketplace has become an Internet sensation and a quintessential Stockton scene. Complimentary comments have come from as far away as Seattle.

"It's almost addicting. I'd rather go here than any fast food," said Vie Rosa Vong, a 19-year-old San Joaquin Delta College student. "I like it here. I enjoy nature, and I go around and chat with people. It's like family."

Some people have a picnic with their just-purchased food; others grab it and go.

The entrepreneur vendors include Hmong, Laotians, Thais and Cambodians. Most just roll out a mat on the ground, sit down and start selling vegetables such as Asian watergrass, ginger root, Thai eggplant, red basil and Chinese winter squash.

Others, like Xiong, have a more elaborate approach - cooking and preparing dishes on the spot.

"It is just traditional food from back home," Vong said. "I come here almost every day."

Vong is Thai-Chinese-Cambodian and was born in Stockton.

A bragging point is the freshness of the ingredients. Xiong makes new sausages every day. She begins at 7 a.m. at home and doesn't stop moving until 9 p.m., an hour after park operations cease.

Sometimes, on the weekend, when the hourlong line stretches to Lincoln Road, she runs out of sausage. Regulars advise people to come early. Xiong also gets help from her husband, son and friends. "This is our spot," she proudly points out. "I am here every day seven days a week from 2:30 until 8. It is better than staying home."

Pulliam Elementary School, one of Stockton Unified's northernmost campuses, is just to the east of Angel Cruz and a large, well-kept Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to the south. Hammer Lane is two blocks north.

Relationships with the neighbors have been good, said 59-year-old Kay Pai, one of the original vendors from 20 years ago. "We do this for a little money," Pai said. "We enjoy. We don't have jobs."

A Stockton Police Department spokesman said he was unaware of any neighborhood complaints.

Stockton resident Andre Brown, 26, used to live nearby. He has been coming to Angel Cruz since he was a small boy. He returns "whenever I have the craving." He was back this week with his nephew Ezekiel Bush. They were headed for Xiong's booth, mouths watering for her sausage, eggroll and beef on a stick.